many, she was concerned
about the expected demise of
Roe v. Wade, the landmark
1973 Supreme Court decision
that legalized abortion in the
United States.
Today, just three women out
of 38 legislators serve in the
Michigan Senate. One, Ms.
Pollack, is a Jewish woman.
Nineteen of 109 (there is one
vacancy) representatives in
the Michigan House are
women. Of those, Ms. Berman,
is the only Jewish woman.
Nancy Kassebaum, R-
Kansas, and Barbara Mikuls-
ki, D-Maryland, are the only
women in the 100-member
U.S. Senate. In Congress, 28
of the 435 members are
women.
For Ms. Pincus, the more

GOP activist Harriet Rotter ran for
Congress in 1972.

2R

FRIBAY JULY 24. 1992

she learned, the angrier she
became.
The low numbers of women
in elected office were mind
boggling. Why be mad, she
wondered? Why not just get
elected?
"We told Ellen Malcolm to
come back to Michigan. We
wanted to have a fund-raising
event," Ms. Pincus recalls. "I
wanted to do this event. I had
never done anything like it.
But I took to it like a duck
takes to water."
At $100 a head, Ms. Pincus
promised an event with 100
people. What she planned
turned into a cocktail party
last May at the home of
Doreen and David Hermelin
— featuring 350 paid guests.
So far, the event has netted

over $65,000. And checks still
are rolling in.
"We're finding out that
women are strong," Ms. Pin-
cus says. "They have hand-
bags. The name of the game is
fund-raising."
The female network is grow-
ing. Women no longer are ac-
cepting what they view as an
old boy's political network.
They want to change the com-
position of government —
from local to state to federal
office.
Jewish women are leading
the movement. "This is an
evolution of the times," says
Marilyn Goldberg, who is cam-
paigning for Republican state
house hopeful Patricia "Pan"
Godchaux. Ms. Godchaux,
who is pro-choice, is trying to
defeat 40th District first term
incumbent John Jamian, who
is pro-life, in Michigan's Aug.
4 primary.
"Jewish women have
learned to take a stand," Ms.
Goldberg says. "Jewish women
have learned to be more out-
spoken. This is an extension
of having lived through rais-
ing money for Israel, and sup-
porting our own agencies and
social causes."
For Faylene Owen, a polit-
ical consultant in East Lans-
ing, writing checks is the only
way to achieve power. She is
working as the co-finance di-
rector for Bill Clinton's Michi:
gan campaign.
Mr. Clinton, she says, is the
only appropriate choice for
women and for Jews.
"I vote for Israel and I vote
for pro-choice," she says.
Glenda Greenwald's politi-
cal involvement had always
been limited. She was friends
with Ms. Malcolm and a mem-
ber of EMILY's List. She vot-
ed. She was a business
executive. She was publisher
of the now defunct Michigan
Woman Magazine.
She and husband Gerald
Greenwald, former Chrysler

chairman, moved to New York
and Aspen a few years ago,
and Ms. Greenwald only re-
turns to her hometown for vis-
its.
It was during a visit to De-
troit last fall that her female
business associates, who called
themselves the Committee of
100, gathered for a luncheon
at the Farmington Hills home
of Weight Watches President
Florine Mark Ross. There,
WISH was born (Women In

the National Council of Jew-
ish Women, Hadassah, ORT
and Na'amat, have been ad-
vocating on behalf of women's
issues.
These women's groups sup-
port reproductive freedom,
good schools for children,
healthful working environ-
ment, equal pay for equal
work.
For many, however, the
Jewish issues — community
service and Israel — are equal-

WISH bas successfully
raised $300,000 for
Republican, pro-choice
women runningfor
political office.

the Senate and House).
Mira Linder, owner of Mira
Linder's Spa in the City, a
member of the Committee of
100, and a self-professed po-
litical junkee, recalls the be-
ginning of WISH.
"I gave a speech thanking
Glenda for bringing us all to-
gether," Ms. Linder says. "She
said it would be nice for all of
us to tell her about our suc-
cesses and failures during her
absence.
"When we got to Glenda, she
said she had no plans," Ms.
Linder says.
Someone suggested politics.
Next, GOP activist Harri-
ett Rotter, who ran unsuc-
cessfully for Congress in 1972,
suggested Ms. Greenwald do
something for Republican
women. And she did.
Based on the fund-raising
methods of EMEELY's List, she
launched WISH in December.
To date, WISH has success-
fully raised $300,000 for Re-
publican, pro-choice women
running for political office.
WISH will host a major
fund-raising breakfast next
month during the Republican
National Convention in Hous-
ton.
For the past century, Jew-
ish women's organizations like

ly as important. When they
vote, these Jewish women con-
sider the larger picture.
"I am a Jew first, and I am
a feminist," says Bella
Samuels Lesch, a newcomer
to Detroit's Jewish communi-
ty. "Jewish people would nev-
er be able to survive if we
voted for people who were neg-
ative on Israel and positive on
abortion."
Both issues, she says, are
crucial. Being a woman is not
enough to guarantee a vote
from Ms. Lesch.
Ms. Pollack says Jewish
women "have always carried
a great deal of the burden of
Jewish activism." But, Ms.
Pollack says, "power within
Jewish communal life has re-
ally been with men."
She is convinced that more
women will be elected to all
levels of public office this No-
vember. When that time
comes, Ms. Pollack added,
Jewish women will also move
more into the forefront of Jew-
ish communal life.
Linda Soberman has been
involved in Jewish communi-
ty projects for years. Through
the American-Israel Public Af-
fairs Committee and the Anti-
Defamation League, she
developed strong links to Is-

